It’s Bengaluru’s vegetarian restaurants that garner the largest crowds in the city. Not its cafes famous for specialty coffees, sleek Pan-Asian fine diners or even the swanky pubs popping up like daisies. Progressive vegetarian cuisine has its loyal fanfare. But this cuisine often comes with a caveat for fusion food sceptics, like your’s truly. That’s until I dined at Gaia, a vibrant new vegetarian restaurant in JP Nagar, that changed my relationship with fusion food forever.
Gaia: A Progressive Vegetarian Restaurant In Bengaluru
Gaia, the monicker is inspired by the ancient Greek goddess of the Earth. The tribute to the life-giving force of Mother Earth is experienced the minute you reach the progressive vegetarian restaurant. I gasped on walking through the brightly lit arch, retained from the transformed old bungalow. The entrance almost resembles an earthy hobbit home.
With a bistro-like set-up, accentuated with planters, and earthy shades of brown and green beckoning diners, you’re instantly put at ease. Catch a seat by the open bar and watch the staff expertly curate ‘Gram-worthy mocktails to lighten your evening.
Head Chef Shreyas Bhatt, introduced us to Gaia’s vision — to make vegetarian food interesting again. The menu is a fusion of Indian dishes with global influences. At Gaia, food transcends mere sustenance, it’s an experience, which I’ve signed up for, wholeheartedly.
After all, Bhatt through this meticulously crafted menu wishes to make a point that vegetarian food can certainly be flavourful and playful.
What Did We Try At Gaia?
Food
- Grapes & Cherry Tomato Chundo
- Roasted Onion Veloute
- Jaipuri Bhindi Chaat
- Tandoor Smoked Nendran
- Palak Burrata
- Afgani Dal Pulao
- Sticky Toffee Pudding
Drinks
- Zeus
- Ourea
Celebrating The Earth’s Bounty
We started our dinner with the chef-recommended Grapes & Cherry Tomato Chundo. What happens when Gujarati chundo-khakra meets Middle East’s yoghurt dip, labneh? Let me tell you, it’s a flavour explosion. That’s what it is! The creamy lemon-labneh with swollen grapes and cherry tomatoes was scooped in gongura khakras, and demolished before we knew it. Insanely addictive!
Roasted Onion Veloute Soup made it to our table, mandatory for the nippy weather. Paired with crisp miso toast, the milk-based soup with caramelised onions, was everything a soup should be in my opinion: light, velvety and comforting. Just when you lean into the sweetness of the onions, the heat from the chilli oil takes over. The best soups are unassuming at first glance yet every spoon underscores its complexity.
Indian & Global Flavours Meet
There were two dishes Chef Shreyas was most excited for us to try: Jaipuri Bhindi Chaat and Tandoor Smoked Nendran. And I, most sceptical. Most fusion dishes are curated for a shock-value and virality on social media. Especially fusion street food. Seldom are fusion dishes created with flavour in the foreground.
The Jaipuri Bhindi Chaat comprises thinly cut, crisp ladyfingers or kurkuri bhindi, given a salad and chaat-like spin. Rocket leaves coated in honey-mustard dressing, topped with kurkuri bhindi and mint surprisingly foam go well together. In fact, it would make a fab bar bite, if I’m being honest as a die-hard bhindi fan.
When it comes to the Tandoor Smoked Nendran, I’m told the team at Gaia led by Chef Shreyas ambitiously invented this dish. Kerala’s Nendran banana, commonly used for fritters, is cooked in a tandoor, as you would with kababs, and then topped with Chimichurri. An acquired taste, the meaty texture with sweetness emanating from the tandoor-cooked banana and the spicy chimichurri sauce packs a punch.
Mocktails Flow Through The Evening
One of my hands-down absolute favourites at Gaia was Zeus, a mocktail. Celebrating coffee, almond and orange, this drink tasted like liquid marzipan (an almond confection from Germany). Luxuriant yet earthy! A drink, I’d undoubtedly add to my favourites list.
Ourea, announced its presence at our table quite dramatically. The blue pea tea drink adorned its basil foam like a crown. As beautiful as it looked, I believe a base spirit would have completed the drink. As a mocktail, it didn’t come together for me.
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For mains, we devoured Palak Burrata with kulchas and the Afgani Dal Pulao. Fresh Burrata is the centrepiece in the palak-lasooni gravy. The gravy was flavourful and the burrata was a fine alternative to the usual protein. However, the kulcha had a lingering taste of yeast, which I found underwhelming.
The Afgani Dal Pulao came in a cute papaya-shaped serving bowl. It was accompanied by Mirchi Salan and Raita. The pulao cooked in ghee was fragrant and beautifully cooked. And that salan was outstanding. In fact, it should be a dish served on its own.
Dessert was simple: Sticky Toffee Pudding. Glistening with jaggery toffee sauce, this dessert was indulgent and delicious. But I did miss the homemade fig ice cream, which if available, would have cut through the sweetness.
My time at Gaia reminds me of Michelin-starred chef Marco Pierre White’s words: “A well-cooked meal is like a symphony, each ingredient plays its part to create a harmonious dish.” Mexico’s chimichurri and Kerala’s nendran banana; Italy’s burrata and India’s palak gravy beautifully come together to create harmonious dishes.
So, will I visit Gaia again? Of course, I will! After all, it’s a progressive vegetarian restaurant that made me fall in love with fusion food.
CT Tip: Every dish on the menu can be cooked as per your dietary preferences (Vegan, Jain or if you have allergies). Just inform the server.
Where: Outer Ring Rd, KR Layout, JP Nagar Phase 6, J. P. Nagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560078
When: 12 pm to 11:30 pm
Cost: ₹1500 for two approx.
Cover Image Courtesy: Supplied and Sanjana Shenoy
First Published: October 21, 2024 7:17 PM